1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

2.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period

3.
Star (heraldry)
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In heraldry, the term star may refer to any star-shaped charge with any number of rays, which may appear straight or wavy, and may or may not be pierced. While there has been confusion between the two due to their similar shape, a star with straight-sided rays is usually called a mullet while one with wavy rays is usually called an estoile. In Scottish heraldry, an estoile is the same as in English heraldry, the use of the word star in blazons, and how that charge appears in coat armory, varies from one jurisdiction to another. In Scots heraldry, both star and mullet interchangeably mean a star with five rays, the official record from 1673 gives Murray of Ochtertyre azur three Starrs argent. While the Ordinary of Arms produced by a late 19th century Lyon King of Arms modernizes the original as Az. three mullets arg. In Canadian heraldry the term is mullet, but there is also the occasional six-pointed star. The term mullet or molet refers to a star with straight sides, typically having five or six points, if the number of points is not specified, five points are presumed in Gallo-British heraldry, and six points are presumed in German-Nordic heraldry. Unlike estoiles, mullets have straight rays and may have represented the rowel of a spur. The term is said to be derived from French molette, a spur-rowel, the term derives from Old French estoile star, in reference to a celestial star, from Latin stella star. Stars are comparatively rare in European heraldry during the medieval period, examples of stars in a late medieval heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire include those of Wentz von Niederlanstein, Gemm, Geyer von Osterberg, Enolff Ritter von Leyen. Under the system of cadency in use in England and Ireland since the late 15th century, a third son bears a mullet as a difference. Stars become much popular as heraldic charges in the early modern era, especially in then-recent family coats of arms of burghers and patricians. The coat of arms of Valais originates in 1613, when six stars representing its six districts were added to the party per pale coat of arms of the Bishop of Sion. Of the higher nobility in Siebmachers Wappenbuch, the landgrave of Hessen, stars are nearly ubiquitous in United States heraldry and vexillology and nearly always appear unpierced with five straight-sided points. In the flag of the United States, each represents one state. The flag adopted in 1777 is the origin of the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen United States. A mullet barbed to chief appears in the arms of the 240th Signal Battalion of the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard United States Army, when arranged in groups, they often enumerate provinces or other components of the nation. In the flags of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, this enumeration is done by the points of a star rather than by a number of stars

4.
Attitude (heraldry)
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In heraldry, an attitude is the position in which an animal, fictional beast, mythical creature, human or human-like being is emblazoned as a charge, supporter or crest. Many attitudes apply only to predatory beasts and are exemplified by the beast most frequently found in heraldry—the lion, some other terms apply only to docile animals, such as the doe. Other attitudes describe the positions of birds, mostly exemplified by the bird most frequently found in heraldry—the eagle, the term naiant, however, is usually reserved for fish but may also apply to swans, ducks or geese. Birds are often described by the exact position of their wings. The term segreant is apparently reserved for creatures, as this term is the approximation of rampant as it applies to winged quadrupeds such as griffins and dragons. Additionally, there are positions applying to direction, to indicate variations from the position of any charge. Animals and animal-like creatures are presumed to be shown in profile, facing dexter, animals and animal-like creatures are presumed to be shown in profile facing dexter. This attitude is standard unless otherwise stated in the blazon, as a warrior will usually carry a shield in the left hand, the animal shown on the shield will then face toward the knights body. Humans and human-like beings are presumed to be shown affronté, note that the heraldic terms dexter and sinister represent the shield bearers perspective, not the viewers. To dexter or the left is the direction animals are presumed to face. This position is not specified unless necessary for clarity, as when a human or human-like being is depicted or when an animals head. To sinister or contourné is said of a creature facing the viewers right, affronté is said of a creature that faces the viewer. En Arrière is said of a creature positioned with its back to the viewer and it is most common used of birds and insects, where the understanding is of an overhead view of the animal with its wings spread. Guardant or In Full Aspect indicates an animal with a body positioned sideways, regardant indicates an animal with its head turned backward, as if looking over its shoulder. Unless other instructions are given, the body will face to dexter, in Trian Aspect is when the animals head is facing at a 3/4 view to give the appearance of depth. The head will be viewed at an angle somewhere between profile and straight-on, many attitudes commonly met with in heraldic rolls apply specifically to predatory beasts, while others may be better suited to the docile animals. These will each be discussed in detail below, also worth note is that a lion or other beast may additionally be described in terms of the position of its head, differently coloured parts, or by the shape or position of its tail. A beast may be armed or langued of a tincture, while a stag may be attired or unguled of a tincture, a lion carries the tail between its hind legs

5.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany

6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan

7.
Royal Flying Corps
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The Royal Flying Corps was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation, at the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson, consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for spotting on 13 September 1914. Aerial photography was attempted during 1914, but again only became effective the next year, by 1918, photographic images could be taken from 15,000 feet and were interpreted by over 3,000 personnel. By this time parachutes had been used by balloonists for three years, on 17 August 1917, South African General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power. On 1 April 1918, the RFC and the RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, after starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel in some 150 squadrons. The recommendations of the committee were accepted and on 13 April 1912 King George V signed a royal warrant establishing the Royal Flying Corps, the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May. The Flying Corps initial allowed strength was 133 officers, and by the end of year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes. The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, the Director of Military Training, and had branches for the Army. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C R Samson commanded the Naval Wing, the RFCs motto was Per ardua ad astra. This remains the motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, the RFCs first fatal crash was on 5 July 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Loraine and his observer, Staff Sergeant R. H. V, an order was issued after the crash stating Flying will continue this evening as usual, thus beginning a tradition. Four months later on 11 December 1912 Parke was killed when the Handley Page monoplane in which he was flying from Hendon to Oxford crashed. The Naval Wing, with pilots and aircraft than the Military Wing. In November 1914 the Royal Flying Corps, even taking the loss of the Naval Wing into account, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of wings consisting of two or more squadrons and these wings were commanded by lieutenant-colonels. In October 1915 the Royal Flying Corps had undergone further expansion which justified the creation of brigades, further expansion led to the creation of divisions, with the Training Division being established in August 1917 and RFC Middle East, being raised to divisional status in December 1917. Finally, the air raids on London and the south-east of England led to the creation of the London Air Defence Area in August 1917 under the command of Ashmore who was promoted to major-general. Two of the first three RFC squadrons were formed from the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, No.1 Company becoming No.1 Squadron, RFC, a second heavier-than-air squadron, No.2 Squadron, RFC, was also formed on the same day

8.
RAF Ouston
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It was built as a Second World War aerodrome and is today used by the British Army. Just north of the airfield is Richmond Hill, Northumberland, in the parish of Stamfordham, in late 1938, the Air Ministry instructed a group of officials to go to Ouston to evaluate the possibility of building an airfield there. Unfortunately, the signal sent out by the ministry wasnt specific enough, however, the intent at the time, was for an airfield at the Ouston 12 mi West of Newcastle and North of the Stanegate Roman road to Carlisle, Cumbria. The station was built to a normal design, having a mixture of prewar-style buildings. A J-type hangar dominated the airfield, with the tower situated in front of it. The station opened on 10 March 1941 as a Fighter Sector HQ under No.13 Group RAF to replace RAF Usworth, with its staff mainly being drawn from that station, the stations badge was a lion rampant in front of a Roman helmet. This was influenced by the nearby Hadrians Wall and the lion is taken from the Percy family arms, the station motto underneath the badge was Persist. The first squadron at the station was No.317 Polish Fighter Squadron, equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, the recently formed Polish unit claimed its first kill on 2 June when a Junkers Ju 88 was sent into the North Sea. Relieved by No.122 Squadron RAF from RAF Turnhouse on 26 June 1941,317 Sqn then went south to RAF Colerne, No.131 Squadron RAF, reformed at Ouston on 20 June 1941 with a large proportion of Belgian pilots but soon moved to Catterick too. Another squadron that didnt register any kills whilst at Ouston was No.81 Squadron RAF and its Spitfires returned to RAF Turnhouse five weeks later, although a further month was spent at Ouston during the early Summer of the same year. The Spitfires of No.242 Squadron RAF were at Ouston for two weeks in May and June of 1942 and they were replaced by the reformed No.243 Squadron RAF on 1 June. No.243 Sqn became operational within a fortnight and flew coastal patrols, No.72 Squadron RAF were at RAF Ouston briefly in the Autumn of 1942 to re-equip before an overseas posting. To cover Air-Sea Rescue off the East coast, No.281 Squadron RAF had been formed at Ouston on 29 March 1942, in February 1943, Supermarine Walrus amphibians were added and by June, when the squadron moved to RAF Wolsington, the Defiants replaced by Avro Ansons. No.613 Squadron RAF, an Army Co-operation squadron, arrived in August 1942 flying North American Mustang Is, and exercised with local army units before departing at the beginning of March 1943. It was joined for a while in August by Douglas Bostons of No.226 Squadron RAF, other unusual lodgers were the Hurricanes of 804 Naval Air Squadron from RAF Machrihanish who arrived in early June 1943 and left for RNAS Twatt on 4 February the following year. Austers appeared on 31 January 1943 when No.657 Squadron RAF formed at Ouston, No.198 Squadron RAF flew its Hawker Typhoons in from RAF Digby late in January 1943, but transferred to RAF Acklington soon after to complete its familiarization on the new type. The last operational squadron to be based at RAF Ouston was No.350 Squadron RAF and they spent most of June and July 1943 flying coastal and convoy patrols before returning to Acklington. On 21 June 1943, No.62 Operational Training Unit began to move in from RAF Usworth, the unit continued to train radar operators for the night-fighter force until disbanding on 6 June 1945

9.
Supermarine Spitfire
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The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after World War II. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations and it was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be popular among enthusiasts, about 54 remain airworthy, Spitfire units, however, had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of its higher performance. Spitfires in general were tasked with engaging Luftwaffe fighters during the Battle, much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was an adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. As a consequence of this, the Spitfires performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life and this made its first flight in February 1934. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service and this led to the Type 300, with retractable undercarriage and the wingspan reduced by 6 ft. This was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but was not accepted, on 3 January 1935, they formalised the contract with a new specification, F10/35, written around the aircraft. On 5 March 1936, the prototype took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome, at the controls was Captain Joseph Mutt Summers, chief test pilot for Vickers, who is quoted as saying Dont touch anything on landing. This eight-minute flight came four months after the flight of the contemporary Hurricane. K5054 was fitted with a new propeller, and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936, after the fourth flight, a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test-flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a good aircraft. The rudder was over-sensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph, here, Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes-Jones took over the prototype for the RAF. He had been orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Joness report was positive, his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with a position indicator. A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires, before any formal report had been issued by the A&AEE, the British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air-display on Saturday 27 June 1936. The first and most immediate problem was that the main Supermarine factory at Woolston was already working at full capacity fulfilling orders for Walrus and Stranraer flying boats. In February 1936 the director of Vickers-Armstrongs, Sir Robert MacLean, guaranteed production of five aircraft a week, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft, for a price of £1,395,000

10.
Convoy
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A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Arriving at the scene of an emergency with a well-ordered unit. Naval convoys have been in use for centuries, with examples of merchant ships traveling under naval protection dating to the 12th century, the use of organized naval convoys dates from when ships began to be separated into specialist classes and national navies were established. By the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, effective naval tactics had been developed to ward off pirates. Some convoys contained several hundred merchant ships, the most enduring system of convoys were the Spanish treasure fleets, that sailed from the 1520s until 1790. When merchant ships sailed independently, a privateer could cruise a shipping lane, ships sailing in convoy presented a much smaller target, a convoy was as hard to find as a single ship. As a result of the convoy systems effectiveness, wartime insurance premiums were consistently lower for ships that sailed in convoys, losses of ships travelling out of convoy however were so high that no merchant ship was allowed to sail unescorted. In the early 20th century, the changed the balance of power in convoy battles. Steaming faster than merchant ships and firing at long ranges, a battleship could destroy many ships in a convoy before the others could scatter over the horizon. To protect a convoy against a ship required providing it with an escort of another capital ship. Battleships were the reason that the British Admiralty did not adopt convoy tactics at the start of the first Battle of the Atlantic in World War I. But the German capital ships had been bottled up in the North Sea, the Admiralty took a long time to respond to this change in the tactical position, and in April 1917 convoy was trialled, before being officially introduced in the Atlantic in September 1917. Other arguments against convoy were raised, further, large convoys were thought to overload port resources. Actual analysis of shipping losses in World War I disproved all these arguments, at least so far as they applied to transatlantic, ships sailing in convoys were far less likely to be sunk, even when not provided with any escort at all. The loss of productivity due to delays was small compared with the loss of productivity due to ships being sunk. Ports could deal more easily with convoys because they tended to arrive on schedule, Convoy duty also exposes the escorting warships to the sometimes hazardous conditions of the North Atlantic, with only rare occurrences of visible achievement. The British adopted a system, initially voluntary and later compulsory for almost all merchant ships

11.
RAF Atcham
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Royal Air Force Atcham or more simply RAF Atcham is a former Royal Air Force station located 5.0 miles east of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, on the north eastern boundary of Attingham Park. Initially built for RAF Fighter Command, during the Second World War its primary use was by the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force, Atcham continued to see use as a training base until it was returned to the RAF in March 1945. To support the USAAF, jurisdiction of Atcham Airfield was transferred from RAF Fighter Command to the USAAF on 15 June 1942 when a number of RAF stations were turned over to the Americans and it was designated as Station 342. The unit was organized as the 6th Fighter Wing on 27 August 1942. During 1942 and early 1943, it trained pilots in combat operations as well as air-to-air-gunnery with the attached 1st Gunnery & Tow Target Flight, the training was conducted using Supermarine Spitfies and pilots drawn from the 67th Observation Group at RAF Membury and RAF Middle Wallop. The 6th Fighter Wing provided training to the groups, 31st Fighter Group It consisted of the 307th, 308th and 309th Fighter Squadrons. The group arrived without assigned aircraft as its Bell P-39 Airacobras were found unsuitable for long-distance formation ferry flights, the group also escorted bombers and flew patrol and diversionary missions. After its training was completed in August 1942, the 31st moved to RAF Westhampnett in Sussex before moving into Tafaraoui Airfield, Oran, 14th Fighter Group The 14th arrived at Atcham on 18 August 1942 from Hamilton Field, California. It consisted of the 48th and 49th Fighter Squadrons, equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings, the 14th escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers to targets in France. It flew P-47 Thunderbolts, some P-38H Lightnings, and A-20 Havocs, pilots trained were then assigned to both VIII Fighter Command and IX Fighter Command after completion of training for subsequent assignment to units as needed. The 495 FTG stayed until February 1945, moving to RAF Cheddington, from August 1944 the Ninth AF P-38s from the 496 FTG/554 FTS from RAF Goxhill used Atcham as a training field. Atcham was returned to the RAF Flying Training Command on 14 March 1945 becoming a satellite of RAF Ternhill, No.5 Advanced Flying Unit and No.6 Service Flying Training School. No.577 Squadron RAF target towing with Airspeed Oxfords, Spitfires, Atcham was abandoned on 22 October 1946 and disposed of on 20 January 1958. With the end of military control, Atcham airfield was returned to farmland with the runways being broken up and removed, today there is little evidence of Atcham airfield. Some minor agricultural roads which were part of the track remain as access to farm fields. Freeman, R. Airfields of the Eighth – Then and Now, london, UK, Battle of Britain International Ltd.2001. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK, Airlife Publishing,2001. Maurer, M. Air Force Combat Units of World War II

12.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh

13.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety

14.
RAF Amarda Road
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RAF Amarda Road is a former wartime Royal Air Force airfield located near Rasgovindpur village in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India. The Amarda Road airstrip, as it was called in war terminology, built in the 1940s at a cost of Rs 3 crore, it was eventually abandoned after the war. It was probably named as Amarda Road Airfield because of the nearby Amarda Road railway station, the airfield was used by No.136 Squadron RAF, No.177 Squadron RAF and No.607 Squadron RAF. The Air Fighting Training Unit, formed in February 1943, was based here. As an airfield, Amarda Road fell on the route for the Nationalist Armies of China in their fight against the Japanese. Aircraft of the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces would regularly fly from this space to China via Chabua, Jorhat and Vijaynagar across the infamous hump route over Arunachal, during the war, Amarda Road was, to put it simply, a battle hub. After the war was over, most airfields, including this one, today, only the Kalaikunda airstrip, which was declared an Air Force Station in 1954, exists. Seven decades after the base was built, the 11,000 feet concrete runway is still intact, though the buildings that once cluttered the edges are gone

15.
Indian Air Force
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The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. It is the fourth largest air force in terms of both personnel and aircraft. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict and it was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during World War II. After India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Royal Indian Air Force served the Dominion of India, since independence, the IAF has been involved in four wars with neighbouring Pakistan and one with the Peoples Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Cactus, apart from conflicts, the IAF has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions. The President of India serves as Supreme Commander of the IAF, the Chief of Air Staff, an air chief marshal, is a four-star officer and commands the Air Force. There is never more than one serving ACM at any time in the IAF. The IAF provides close air support to the Indian Army troops in the battlefield and also provides strategic, IAF also provides infantry and artillery transportations or secondary Airlift for the Indian Army. The IAF provided extensive assistance to relief operations during natural calamities such as the Gujarat cyclone in 1998, the IAF also provides assistance to other countries during relief activities such as Operation Rainbow in Sri Lanka. On 1 April 1933, the IAF commissioned its first squadron, No.1 Squadron, with four Westland Wapiti biplanes, the Indian pilots were led by RAF Commanding officer Flight Lieutenant Cecil Bouchier. During World War II, the IAF played a role in blocking the advance of the Japanese army in Burma. It also carried out missions against the Japanese airbases at Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai. The IAF was mainly involved in Strike, Close Air Support, Aerial reconnaissance, Bomber Escort, RAF Pilots were embedded in IAF units and vice versa to gain combat experience. IAF pilots participated in air operations in Europe as part of the RAF, during the war, the IAF went through a phase of steady expansion. New aircraft, including the US built Vultee Vengeance, Douglas DC-3, in recognition of the services rendered by the IAF, King George VI conferred the prefix Royal in 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as the Royal Indian Air Force, in 1950, when India became a republic, the prefix was dropped and it reverted to being the Indian Air Force. After it became independent from the British Empire in 1947, British India was partitioned into the new states of the Dominion of India, along the lines of the geographical partition, the assets of the air force were divided between the new countries. The RIAF Roundel was changed to an interim Chakra roundel derived from the Ashoka Chakra, around the same time, conflict broke out between them over the control of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir

16.
No. 134 Squadron RAF
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No.134 Squadron RAF was a part of the Royal Air Force which was formed as a light bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter squadron in World War II. No.134 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 March 1918 and became a unit of the Royal Air Force a month later, the squadron reformed from a nucleus provided by 17 Squadron in July 1941 as a fighter unit equipped with Hawker Hurricanes stationed at RAF Leconfield. It was then based near Murmansk to train Russian pilots until the Hurricanes were handed over to the Russian Navy. Back in the UK the Squadron was re-assembled at RAF Catterick on 7 December 1941 and it then operated in Egypt until November 1943 when it moved to India and Burma. The squadron converted to the P-47 Thunderbolt and disbanded by being renumbered 131 Squadron, history of No. s 131–135 Squadrons at RAF Web 134 Squadron history on the official RAF website

17.
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
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The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller

18.
Kuala Lumpur
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Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, or more commonly called KL is the national capital of Malaysia as well as its largest city. Being rated as an Alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the global city in Malaysia which covers an area of 243 km2 and has an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an agglomeration of 7.25 million people as of 2017. It is among the fastest growing regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population. Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, the city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is situated in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur is one of three Federal Territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and it is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysias futuristic development. Kuala Lumpur means muddy confluence, kuala is the point where two rivers join together or an estuary, and lumpur means mud. One suggestion is that it was named after Sungai Lumpur, it was recorded in 1824 that Sungei Lumpoor was the most important tin-producing settlement up the Klang River. It has also proposed that Kuala Lumpur was originally named Pengkalan Lumpur in the same way that Klang was once called Pengkalan Batu. Another suggestion is that it was initially a Cantonese word lam-pa meaning flooded jungle or decayed jungle, there is however no firm contemporary evidence for these suggestions other than anecdotes. It is also possible that the name is a form of an earlier. It is unknown who founded or named the settlement called Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur was originally a small hamlet of just a few houses and shops at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang before it grew into a town. The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued their journey on foot to Ampang where the first mine was opened

19.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra

20.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

21.
No. 1 Squadron RAF
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No.1 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was the first squadron to fly a VTOL aircraft and it currently operates Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth. These include the Second World War, Suez Crisis, Falklands War, Gulf War, Kosovo War, and Operation Telic. No.1 Squadrons origins go back to 1878 when its predecessor, No.1 Balloon Company, was formed at the Royal Arsenal, on 1 April 1911 the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was created. The battalion initially consisted of two companies, with No.1 Company, Air Battalion taking responsibility for lighter than air flying, the first Officer Commanding was Captain E. M. Maitland. On 13 May 1912, with the establishment of the Royal Flying Corps, No.1 Company of the Air Battalion was redesignated No.1 Squadron, No.1 Squadron was one of the original three Royal Flying Corps squadrons. Maitland continued as the new squadrons Officer Commanding and he was promoted to several days after the establishment of the squadron. It retained the airships Beta and Gamma, adding Delta and Eta, as well as kites, however, in October 1913 a sudden decision was made to transfer all the airships to the Naval Wing of the RFC. While retaining kites 1 Squadron was reorganised as a park for the British Expeditionary Force. On 1 May 1914, Major Charles Longcroft was appointed as the new squadron commander, apart from a few weeks as a supernumerary in August and September 1914, Longcroft continued as the squadron commander until January 1915. The squadron was reformed as a squadron in August 1914. It operated mainly in the reconnaissance rôle, with a few single seat fighters for escort purposes and it retained Morane Parasols for reconnaissance, until becoming a dedicated fighter squadron on 1 January 1917, flying Nieuport 17s and Nieuport 27. The obsolete Nieuports were replaced by more modern S. E. 5as in January 1918, on incorporation into the RAF on 1 April 1918 the squadron kept its numeral, No 1 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service was displaced to become No.201 Squadron RAF. No.1 Squadron had among its ranks no fewer than 31 flying aces, the squadron returned to the UK from France in March 1919, being formally disbanded on 20 January 1920. On the next day it reformed at Risalpur in the North West Frontier of India, flying the Sopwith Snipe. and from January 1920. It moved to Hinaidi near Baghdad in Iraq in May 1921, to carry out policing duties, retaining its Snipes and it remained in Iraq, carrying out strafing and bombing against hostile tribal forces until November 1926 when it was disbanded. In early 1927 it was reformed at Tangmere, Sussex as a Home Defence Fighter Squadron, after receiving the Hawker Fury Mk. The squadron re-equipped with the Hurricane Mk. I in October 1938, on the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 the squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force

22.
No. 2 Squadron RAF
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Not to be confused with No.2 Squadron RAF Regiment No.2 Squadron, also known as No. II Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force and it is currently equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon. No.2 Squadrons traditional Army Co-Operation role is reflected in the AC of its title, its motto Hereward, and its unofficial nickname is Shiny Two. No.2 Squadron was formed at Farnborough, Hampshire on 13 May 1912 and it was formed from a detachment of No.2 Company of the Royal Engineers Air Battalion. Both 2 Squadron and 3 Squadron were equipped with fixed wing aeroplanes, the squadrons first commander was Major C J Burke. The squadron was equipped with a mixture of types, including the prototype Royal Aircraft Factory B. E.2. From 26 February 1913 the squadron was based at Montrose, the first operational Royal Flying Corps base in the UK located just outside Montrose and this was established on the instructions of the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill to protect the Royal Navy. At Montrose the ghost story of Desmond Arthur spread around the flying corps, the squadron was the first to fly the English Channel into France at the start of the First World War. Starting a role which continues to this day, the spent the war on reconnaissance duties in France flying, amongst other aircraft. Although its principal role was not air-to-air combat, it still had one flying ace among its ranks in Arthur William Hammond and it also numbered the first aviation Victoria Cross winners in its ranks, in Second Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse and Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod. The squadron gained the AC in its title in the inter-war years, after time in China during 1927 the squadron re-equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas again on Army Co-operation work. At the outbreak of the Second World War the unit was flying Westland Lysanders, the squadron spent much of the Cold War in Germany as part of RAF Germany, flying various fighter types, including latterly Phantoms and then Jaguars. Elements of the squadron were deployed to the Gulf War, along with much of the RAF, II Sqn withdrew from Germany after returning from the Gulf War – moving to RAF Marham in Norfolk with its Tornado GR1As. These were upgraded to the latest GR4 standard, with which the squadron deployed at part of Operation Telic over Iraq in 2003, the squadron has deployed on several occasions to maintain the Tornado GR4 detachment in Afghanistan, and saw action over Libya during Operation Ellamy/Operation Unified Protector. 2 Sqn. are currently operating eight aircraft from RAF Akrotiri as part of Operation Shader, however, in October 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the Squadrons disbanding and reformation would be put on hold to allow the retention of Tornados supporting strikes against ISIL. As a consequence of new plan, the new No.2 Squadron formed at Lossiemouth on 12 January 2015. No 2 Sqn became the first RFC squadron to cross the Channel to France, at the outbreak of World War I List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre Onderwater, J. G. Hans, Second to None, the History of No. II Squadron, Shrewsbury, Air Life Publishers, first edition 1992, third edition to be published in 2014 by the same author

23.
No. 3 Squadron RAF
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No 3 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Typhoon F2, FGR4 and T3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. It was formed in 1912 as one of the first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps, No 3 Squadron was formed at Larkhill on 13 May 1912 by the renaming of No.2 Company of the Air Battalion Royal Engineers, under the command of Major Robert Brooke-Popham. Being already equipped with aeroplanes and manned by pilots and air mechanics, on 5 July 1912, two members of the squadron, Captain Eustace Loraine and Staff Sergeant Wilson were killed in an aircraft crash, making them the first RFC fatalities. In 1913, No 3 Squadron deployed to Halton in Buckinghamshire to support the land manoeuvres of the Household Division, a temporary airfield was set up on what later became RAF Haltons Maitland Parade Square. During the exercise, No 3 Squadron flew a number of reconnaissance sorties, sent to France on the outbreak of the Great War, the squadron initially operated in the reconnaissance role using a variety of aircraft types. On 22 August 1914, British Captain L. E. O, charlton,3 Sqn Flight commander and Lieutenant V. H. N. Wadham reported German General Alexander von Klucks army was preparing to surround the BEF, cecil Lewis, author of Sagittarius Rising flew Morane Parasols with No 3 Squadron during the Somme offensive in the summer of 1916. Later in October 1917, with the introduction of Sopwith Camels, the squadron disbanded in October 1919. There were nine flying aces among its ranks, including Douglas John Bell and it reformed as a fighter squadron with Snipes in April 1924, operating a succession of different types, based in the UK, including the Gloster Gladiator. The only highlight of these years was the 1935 deployment to the Sudan during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, at the start of the Second World War No 3 Squadron was posted as part of Fighter Command to RAF Station Biggin Hill equipped with the Hawker Hurricane. <06/41 to 08/41 No 3 Sqn moved from Martlesham Heath to RAF Stapleford Tawney operating 4 canon Hurricane 11s in Rhubarb attacks on defended ground targets, (Source Sqn logs National Record Office>. On 21 July 1940 B flight was detached to form the nucleus of the newly formed No.232 Squadron, once back up to strength, No.3 Squadron was used as air defence for the Royal Naval base at Scapa Flow, remaining in Scotland until April. 1941, based at RAF Station Wick in Northern Scotland. Photo evidence shows A Flight based at St Andrews dated 1 July 1941 under group training, the squadron then co-operated with Turbinlite searchlight equipped Douglas Havocs in the night fighter role. In February 1943 it re-equipped with the Hawker Typhoon for fighter-bomber and it re-equipped in March 1944 with the new Hawker Tempest fighter, operating over the Normandy beach-head and against German V1 flying bombs, claiming 288 V-1s shot down. It then deployed across the Channel, flying as part of the 2 TAF fighting through the low countries, amongst its pilots was F/L Pierre Clostermann, who flew with 3 Squadron from March 1945 until the end of the war in Europe. The squadron moved onto jets with the De Havilland Vampire during 1948, in Germany, sabres and Hunters replaced the Vampires during the 1950s, followed by Gloster Javelins and then a conversion onto Canberra bombers. Most of its time with Canberras was spent at RAF Geilenkirchen moving to RAF Laarbruch in January 1968, the squadron received the later GR3 and GR5 model Harriers successively at RAF Gütersloh, finally receiving the GR7 and relocating to RAF Laarbruch in the 1992. In 1999, with the drawdown of the RAF in Germany, the two squadrons operated at RAF Cottesmore, being joined by the other Harrier operator, No.1 Squadron RAF, in 2001

24.
No. 4 Squadron RAF
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No.4 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the BAE Hawk T2 in the training role from RAF Valley, as a part of No.4 Flying Training School. No.4 Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. The more useful aircraft in its inventory were sent to France under the command of Major G H Rayleigh on 16 August 1914, to carry out reconnaissance in support of the British Expeditionary Force. On 19 August Lieutenant G. W. Mapplebeck flew the squadrons first mission over France, other aircraft remained in England to carry out anti-Zeppelin patrols. The contingent in France was reinforced on 20 September by the personnel who had remained behind in England, forming C Flight and it concentrated on the reconnaissance role, standardising on the B. E.2 in 1916. In the Battle of the Somme,4 Squadron flew contact patrols keeping track of the position of advancing troops at low level, in addition to more regular reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions. It re-equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory R. E.8 in June 1917, in time to part in the Battle of Messines. It remained equipped with the R. E.8 until the Armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918 ended the fighting, the Squadron returned to the United Kingdom in February 1919, disbanding in September that year. No 4 Squadron reformed on 30 April 1920 at Farnborough, equipped with Bristol F.2 Fighters. The Squadron deployed on Royal Navy aircraft carriers when they sailed to Turkey on HMS Ark Royal and Argus during the Chanak crisis in August 1922, when the 1926 General Strike broke out, No.4 Squadrons aircraft were used to patrol railway lines to deter feared sabotage. In February 1937 it moved from Farnborough to RAF Odiham, soon re-equipping with the Hawker Hector, in January 1939, it discarded its Hector biplanes in favour of the new monoplane Westland Lysander. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, losses had been heavy, with 18 aircrew killed, while 60% of the groundcrew were lost. It continued in the patrol and air-sea rescue role while training for its main Army co-operation role after returning to the UK. It discarded its Mosquitoes in June, moved to France in August and it retained its Spitfires at VE Day, moving to Celle in Germany to carry out survey operations in support of the British Army of Occupation until it was disbanded on 31 August 1945. The squadron reformed the day by renumbering 605 Squadron, a light bomber squadron equipped with Mosquitoes based at Volkel in the Netherlands. It re-equipped with de Havilland Vampire fighter-bombers in July 1950, replacing them with North American Sabres in October 1953, the Sabres were discarded in favour of the Hawker Hunter in July 1955, retaining these until the squadron disbanded at RAF Jever on 31 December 1960. Again, the squadron did not remain dormant for long, as it reformed on 1 January 1961 by renumbering No.79 Squadron RAF and it re-equipped with the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier in 1970, first flying them from RAF Wildenrath in West Germany. It moved on to RAF Gütersloh in 1977, the squadron operated the Harrier until the final withdrawal of the type, receiving numerous upgrades and new versions over the years

25.
No. 5 Squadron RAF
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No.5 Squadron often styled V Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the operator of the Sentinel R1 Airborne STand-Off Radar aircraft. Thereafter in 1920, the squadron was reformed at Quetta, India, there it continued working in Army Air Cooperation for operations on the North West Frontier. From 1920 until 1941 they had a succession of aircraft, Bristol Fighters, Westland Wapitis, Hawker Harts, in 1942 they received American built Mohawks and became escorts to Blenheim bombers over north west Burma. These were replaced in turn by Hawker Hurricanes and P-47 Thunderbolts, No.5 Squadron converted to Tempest IIs in February 1946, but disbanded on 1 August 1947. On 11 February 1949 it reformed at RAF Pembrey in Wales for target-towing duties but in 1951 and it moved to RAF Binbrook in 1965 with the English Electric Lightning interceptor keeping these until 1987. It reformed on 1 April 2004, the first production Raytheon Sentinel R.1 made its maiden flight on 26 May 2004. The ASTOR system officially entered service with the No.5 Squadron on 1 December 2008, full Operating Capability was expected by the end of 2010. The new radar-equipped aircraft provides battlefield and ground surveillance for the British Army in a role to the American Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft. From 2009, the squadron also operated four Shadow R1 aircraft and these were transferred to 14 Squadron in 2011. 14 Squadron operates as part of 5 Squadron at RAF Waddington, from September 2014, the squadron has temporarily relocated to Cranwell along with 14 Squadron due to the resurfacing of RAF Waddingtons runway which will take over a year to complete. List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons RAF –5 Squadron

26.
No. 6 Squadron RAF
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No.6 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 at RAF Lossiemouth. The squadron officially reformed as a Typhoon squadron on 6 September 2010, No.6 Squadrons motto Oculi Exercitus and the badge depicting an eagle attacking a serpent were gained as a result of fighter defence of army units during the First World War. The squadron was formed on 31 January 1914, at Farnborough as No.6 Squadron and its first squadron commander was Major John Becke. The squadron had an aircraft inventory of two Royal Aircraft Factory B. E. 2s and two Farmans, with the squadron also initially incorporating a flight operating man-lifting kite. The cunningly coiled snake neatly sidestepped the regulations, Strange, hanging for dear life to the drum of the Lewis gun, managed to get back into the cockpit and right the aircraft within 500 ft of the ground. He returned to the aerodrome and quietly disappeared, sleeping for the best part of 24 hours, unfortunately for Strange, the German machine he had been firing at witnessed the whole incident and assumed that their brave attacker had perished. As was the custom, they dropped a wreath and with it a letter describing the manner of Stranges death, needless to say, his next invention was a pilots safety harness. Hawker died in 1916, after an epic battle with Baron von Richthofen. Other members of No.6 Squadron RFC included several men who went on to fame in the Second World War. Following the Armistice, the transferred to Iraq, arriving in July 1919. Operating in the army co-operation role in Northern Iraq, it was equipped with Bristol Fighters, the squadron remained there for ten years before moving to Egypt in 1929. At the same time, it re-equipped with Fairey Gordons and assumed the bomber role, following problems in Palestine, the squadron relocated there in 1938, reverting to the army co-operation role with Hawker Hardys, adding Gloster Gauntlets and Westland Lysanders later. Co-operation with ground units was vital during sorties around this time, during one mission, Flight Lieutenant McFall, carrying out a Lysander reconnaissance, located the enemy unit and then landed beside Allied gun batteries in order to direct the fire. Further action in the desert on anti-tank duties continued from 1942 until the end of the North African campaign, Flying the tank-busting,40 mm cannon-firing Hawker Hurricane Mk. IID, the squadron excelled over the desert, destroying many Axis armoured targets and this is where they earned the nickname The Flying Tin Openers. One of the commanders, Flight Lieutenant Pip Hillier was awarded the DFC after some 13 confirmed tank kills. Unfortunately, he was killed in August 1942 whilst demonstrating the squadrons tactics to the press and his DFC citation in the London Gazette states, Flight Lieutenant Philip Snowdon-Alexander HILLIER No.6 Squadron. In June,1942, this officer participated in 2 sorties against a column of armoured vehicles near Sidi Rezegh

27.
No. 7 Squadron RAF
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No.7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. The squadron spent most of the First World War in observation and interception roles and was responsible for the first ever interception of an aircraft over Britain. It deployed to France in April 1915, flying Royal Aircraft Factory R. E. 5s for reconnaissance, although he successfully recovered the R. E.5 to allied lines, saving his observer, he died of his wounds a month later. The squadron re-equipped with B. E. 2s in 1916 and it disbanded at the end of 1919. It re-formed at RAF Bircham Newton on 1 June 1923 with the Vickers Vimy as a heavy bomber squadron. It started to receive the Vickers Virginia bomber on 22 May 1924, being the first RAF Squadron to operate Virginias, in 1927 it moved to RAF Worthy Down, commanded by Charles Portal, later to become Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War. In 1932, Frederick Higginson, who became an ace in the Second World War, was assigned as a mechanic-gunner to the squadron. By this time, the elderly Virginia was obsolete, and in April 1935 they were replaced by the more modern Handley Page Heyford, which it won the Lawrence Minot trophy yet again in 1935. Part of the squadron was split off in October 1935 to form No.102 Squadron, in April 1937 the squadron received four Vickers Wellesleys to equip a flight which was again split off to form 76 Squadron. In March 1938 it replaced its Heyford biplanes with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley monoplanes and it re-equipped again in April 1939, with Handley Page Hampdens bombers replacing the Whitleys. In June 1939 it became a unit, preparing crews for the Hampden equipped 5 Group. On the outbreak of the Second World War, it continued to be used for training bomber crews and it flew on the 1000 bomber raids to Cologne, Essen and Bremen in May and June 1942. It was transferred to the Pathfinder Force in October 1942, with the job of finding and marking targets for the Main Force of Bomber Command bombers and it re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster from 11 May 1943, flying its first mission with the Lancaster on 12 July 1943. It continued in the Pathfinder role until the end of the war in Europe and it flew its last bomber mission on 25 April 1945 against Wangerooge, and dropped food to starving civilians in the Netherlands in May. While it was planned to fly 7 Squadron out to the Far East to join Tiger Force for air attacks against Japan, the squadron carried out 5,060 operational sorties with the loss of 165 aircraft. Fraser Barron After World War II it was equipped with Avro Lincoln bombers, based at RAF Upwood, the Lincoln was for several years the front line cold war bomber aircraft. It was used in the Malayan emergency, the Middle East, in 1970,7 Squadron again reformed, this time as a target squadron, flying the English Electric Canberra until January 1982. The squadron quickly reformed in the Support Helicopter role, receiving Chinooks HC. 1s in September 1982, the Chinook HC.2, equivalent to the US Army CH-47D standard, began to enter RAF service in 1993

28.
No. 8 Squadron RAF
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No.8 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing E-3D Sentry from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. The RAF AWACS fleet is made up of seven E-3Ds, with the UK designation Sentry AEW1, as No.8 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps it was formed at Brooklands, Surrey on 1 January 1915, equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory B. E. 2c. The squadron moved to Gosport later in January for further training, operating from airfields near Saint-Omer, the squadron was initially used for bombing and long-range reconnaissance, carrying out flights of up to 100 miles behind the front lines. In February 1916 it moved to Bellevue and specialised in the Corps Reconnaissance role, carrying out contact patrols, the squadron flew in support of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916 and the Battle of Arras in April–May 1917. It received the improved B. E. 2e from February 1917, armstrong Whitworth FK. 8s replaced the B. E. 2s in August 1917. On 12 August 1918, Captain Ferdinand Maurice Felix West of 8 Squadron was flying a F. K.8 on a patrol when he was attacked by seven German fighters. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action, in December 1918, a few weeks after the Armistice with Germany that ended the First World War, the Squadron re-equipped with Sunbeam Arab-engined Bristol F.2 Fighters. It served briefly in Germany as part of the British Army of Occupation, before moving back to the United Kingdom in July 1919,8 Squadron reformed at Helwan, near Cairo, Egypt, as a day-bomber squadron equipped with the Airco DH. 9A on 18 October 1920. It moved to Basra, Iraq in the Air Policing role, with the security of Iraq the responsibility of the RAF, in November–December 1923 the squadron was deployed against Marsh Arabs in the Mesopotamian Marshes. In February 1927, in response to unrest in Aden,8 Squadron was deployed to RAF Khormaksar, the squadron replaced its elderly DH. 9As with new Fairey IIIF light bombers from January 1928. It flew operations against Zaidi in February 1928 and against the Subaihi tribe, operations against the Subaihi involved destroying crops with incendiary bombs and bombing villages after giving warning so they could be evacuated. This pressure eventually forced the Subaihi to sue for peace, with the rebel chiefs paying fines, in April 1935, it re-equipped again with Vickers Vincents, a general purpose aircraft based on the Vickers Vildebeest biplane torpedo bomber replacing the Fairey IIIFs. The squadron started to receive Bristol Blenheim twin-engined monoplane bombers in April 1939, on 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. On 5 August 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland, and 8 Squadrons Blenheims flew missions against advancing Italian troop columns, the Italians heavily outnumbered the British and Commonwealth defences, and the port of Berbera was occupied by the Italians on 19 August. The squadrons long association with the Middle East gave rise to the adoption of the Arabian Khunjah as the units badge, the unit continued to be based at RAF Khormaksar in Aden equipped with Bristol Blenheims. Vickers Wellington XIIIs were flown from December 1943 until May 1945 and it disbanded temporarily on 1 May 1945. On 15 May 1945 No.8 Squadron was reformed by renumbering No.200 Squadron at RAF Jessore in India, the squadron again disbanded on 15 November 1945. The unit was reformed at Khormaksar on 1 September 1946 by renumbering No.114 Squadron and these were replaced by the Hawker Tempest, and the Bristol Brigand

29.
No. 9 Squadron RAF
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No.9 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was the first in the service to receive the Panavia Tornado, which it currently operates from RAF Marham, Norfolk. No.9 Squadron was formed and disbanded twice during the First World War, the first incarnation was formed on 8 December 1914 at Saint-Omer in France from a detachment of the RFC HQ to develop the use of radio for reconnaissance missions, this lasted until March 1915. Re-formed at Brooklands on 1 April 1915 under the command of Major Hugh Dowding as a squadron, No.9 returned to France in December 1915. It flew reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, while it started to receive Bristol Fighters in July 1918, it did not completely discard its R. E. 8s until after the end of the war. It was disbanded again in December 1919, the squadrons life as a bomber unit began on 1 April 1924, reforming at RAF Upavon, quickly moving to RAF Manston, with the Vickers Vimy. The squadron badge was approved by King Edward VIII in 1936, the squadron emblem is accordingly a bat, with the motto We Fly by Night In 1939 it became the third RAF squadron to receive the modern Vickers Wellington monoplane. The battleship Tirpitz had been moved into a fjord in Northern Norway where she threatened the Arctic convoys and was too far north to be attacked by air from the UK. She had already damaged by a Royal Navy midget submarine attack. But both attacks had failed to sink her and this fjord was in range of bombers operating from Scotland. There in October from a base in Scotland she was attacked again, finally on 12 November 1944, the two squadrons attacked the Tirpitz. The first bombs missed their target, but following aircraft scored three hits in quick succession causing the ship to capsize. All three RAF attacks on Tirpitz were led by Wing Commander J. B, willy Tait, who had succeeded Cheshire as CO of No.617 Squadron in July 1944. F/O Tweddle was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in the operations against the Tirpitz, F/O Tweddles DFC citation reads as follows, This officer has taken part in all three attacks on the battleship Tirpitz. He has shown great determination and the keenest enthusiasm to operate and bomb his target in spite of all the hazards of enemy opposition and bad weather. In the first attack he made the long and arduous journey to the Russian base, in the second attack he made the same endeavours to bomb the ship, and on the third occasion, unhampered by weather, launched his attack successfully. F/O Tweddle has always displayed courage and cheerful enthusiasm which has been of utmost value to his crew, whilst his captaincy and airmanship have consistently been of the highest order. In addition, F/O Tweddle undertook the extra hazard of wind finding for the Squadron, due to the sinking of the Tirpitz having been attributed to 9 Squadron, an intense rivalry developed between 617 and 9 Squadron after the sinking of the warship. After the War, the Lancasters were replaced by Avro Lincolns until 1952 and these aircraft were used during three months of operations in Malaya in 1956 and during the Suez Crisis

30.
No. 10 Squadron RAF
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No.10 Squadron is a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron has served in a variety of roles over its 90-year history and it currently flies the Airbus Voyager in the transport/tanker role. Formed from a provided by No. It was disbanded on 31 December 1919 following the end of the war,4 Group of RAF Bomber Command. The squadron remained a part of No.4 Group throughout the war, re-equipping with the Halifax in December 1941. On 1 July 1966, the squadron reformed yet again and became the first to receive the new Vickers VC10 C.1, the unit moved to RAF Brize Norton in 1967, where it remained until disbanded in 2005. The C.1 differs from later marks of RAF VC10s in that they were delivered newly built as strategic transports, fourteen VC10 C. 1s were delivered to 10 Squadron between 1966 and 1967. The C.1 was a variant of the civil Standard VC10 fitted with the wing, the C.1 can carry 139 passengers in rear-facing seats, eight standard pallets or up to 78 medical evacuation stretchers. These VC10s were named after airmen who had awarded the Victoria Cross. The strengthened floor allowed the C.1 to transport 1,000 lb bombs for the Tornado GR1 force during the Gulf War, during the war,10 Sqn flew 1,326 sorties in more than 5,000 hours. The squadron also took part in most other operations involving British forces, including the 1982 Falklands War and the 2003 war in Iraq. Introduced as air transport aircraft, the VC10 C.1 fleet was modified in 1993 to allow it to operate in the AAR role as well, the aircraft were then known as VC10 C. 1s. The most visible role No.10 Squadrons VC10s have played is that of VIP transport, in the VIP role the C1s have flown the British Royal Family, government ministers and Prime Ministers around the world. Later the VC10 VIP role was phased out, VIP transport being carried out by chartered British Airways 767s and the RAF BAe 146 fleet. However, former Prime Minister Tony Blair reverted to the VC10 for more flights, notably during his diplomacy to Pakistan. The rationalisation of the VC10 force led to No.10 Squadron being disbanded in October 2005, the squadron was officially reformed on 1 July 2011. List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

31.
No. 11 Squadron RAF
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No.11 or XI Squadron is a Royal Air Force fighter squadron. The squadron operated the Tornado F3 until 2005 when it was disbanded and it was reactivated in 2006 to operate the Typhoon F2, receiving its first aircraft on 9 October 2006. Since all previous squadrons were reconnaissance or army units,11 can make a claim to be the oldest dedicated fighter squadron in the world. The squadron has had the honour of having two Victoria Cross winners serve in the unit, the Gunbus was already obsolete however, and was replaced by Royal Aircraft Factory F. E.2 fighters of similar layout, but higher performance, in June 1916. These in turn were replaced by Bristol Fighters in August 1917, the Squadron was disbanded at the end of 1919. No.11 Squadron numbered 19 flying aces in its ranks during the war, the twin Eagles on the Squadrons crest, awarded in May 1937, represent the two-seated fighters operated in the First World War. The Squadron reformed at RAF Andover in January 1923 as a day bomber squadron equipped with Airco DH. 9As, soon moving to RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk. In April 1924, these were replaced by the Fairey Fawn despite the fact that they offered little improvement in performance over the DH. 9A and it replaced its Wapitis with Hawker Harts in February 1932, operations continuing as before. On 31 May 1935, the 1935 Balochistan earthquake devastated the city of Quetta, No.11 Squadron, along with other RAF squadrons in the region, were used to aid the relief effort following the disaster. The squadron received Blenheim I monoplane bombers in July 1939, moving to Singapore the next month, in April 1940 the squadron moved to India, and was briefly based at Karachi before was ordered to transfer to Aden due to the increasing likelihood of war with Italy. The first of the squadrons Blenheims reached Aden on 19 June 1940, nine days after Italy declared war on Britain, the squadron was heavily engaged in the early months of the Eastern Africa campaign, attacking Italian targets in Italian East Africa. In early 1941 the squadron was sent to reinforce the Royal Air Force squadrons in Greece, fighting in the Greek Campaign first against the Italians, the few surviving aircraft and crews were evacuated to Crete and then on to Palestine. After reforming, the served in the Syrian Campaign against the Vichy French. After returning to Egypt the squadron took part in Operation Crusader, redeployed to Colombo, Ceylon in early 1942, the squadron was involved in attacks on Japanese shipping. During 1943, the Squadron re-equipped with Hurricanes and moved to Burma in the attack role. By January 1943, Royal Australian Air Force personnel, or Australians serving in the RAF, at the time, the Australian personnel included the CO, W/Cdr Harley Stumm. 11 Squadron was one of the few RAF squadrons to fight against Italian, German, Vichy French, the Squadron formed part of the occupation forces in Japan from August 1945 to February 1948, when it disbanded. Reforming in Germany during October 1949, they flew Mosquitos, Vampires, the Squadron again disbanded in 1957, but reformed in January 1959 with Meteor night fighters

32.
No. 12 Squadron RAF
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No.12 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham, having been re-formed on 9 January 2015. No.12 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed in February 1915 from a flight of No.1 Squadron RFC at Netheravon, the squadron moved to France in September 1915 and operated a variety of aircraft on operations over the Western Front. In March 1918 the squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol F2b Fighter just before becoming part of the newly formed Royal Air Force, the squadron, by then based at Bickendorf in Germany, was disbanded in 1922. The squadron re-formed at RAF Northolt on 1 April 1923 to operate the de Havilland DH. 9A, in 1924 it moved to RAF Andover and converted to the Fairey Fawn, a single-engined biplane bomber. e. In 1931 the squadron re-equipped with the Sydney Camm designed Hawker Hart, in October 1935 the squadron moved to the Middle East, but returned to Andover in August 1936. The Harts were replaced by the Hawker Hind in 1936 and in 1938 the squadron was equipped with Fairey Battles, on the first day of the Second World War the squadron moved to France to begin operations. On 12 May 1940, over the Albert Canal, Belgium, one bridge in particular was being used by the invading German army, with protection from aircraft, anti-aircraft. The RAF was ordered to demolish this vital bridge, and five Fairey Battles from the squadron were dispatched, unfortunately the leading aircraft and three others did not return. Flying Officer Garland and Sergeant Gray were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The squadron returned to England in June and it was stationed initially at RAF Finningley, arriving at RAF Binbrook in July 1940, when it was refurnished with Battles. Amongst other missions, it carried out strikes against shipping in Boulogne Harbour. The Squadron was one of the last No.1 Group units to conduct operations with Fairey Battles and these took place on 15/16 October 1940, when No.301 Squadron bombed Boulogne and Nos.12 and 142 Squadrons bombed Calais. By November 1940, the Squadron had been completely re-equipped with the Vickers Wellington, the squadron moved again in 1942, to RAF Wickenby, and soon after converted to operate the Avro Lancaster. In 1946 the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lincoln until, in 1952, it joined the jet-age, after 44 years continuous service the squadron was again disbanded in July 1961. The advent of effective Soviet SAMs made high-flying bombers vulnerable, the squadron stood down from this role at the end of 1967. The squadron moved to RAF Lossiemouth in 1980, still in the same anti-shipping role, in 1993 it was disbanded once more. During December 1998, the Squadron took part in Operation Desert Fox, in 2006 and again in 2008 the Squadron provided armed overwatch for UK and US ground operations in Iraq. Shortly afterwards, as British troops withdrew from the country, the Tornado fleet based in the also returned to the UK

33.
No. 13 Squadron RAF
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No.13 or XIII Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed on 10 January 1915 and most recently disbanded on 13 May 2011. It reformed on 26 October 2012 flying the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington. Aircraft operated by the squadron included the Martinsyde G.100, the Royal Aircraft Factory F. E.2, the SPAD VII and SPAD XIII, from 1990 it operated the Panavia Tornado, initially the GR1A at RAF Honington and later the GR4/4A at RAF Marham. XIII Squadron formed at RAF Gosport on 10 January 1915 and moved to France on 19 October 1915, initially on Army co-operation duties and subsequently on bombing raids, pioneering formation bombing. Aircraft types operated during the war included the Martinsyde G.100, the Royal Aircraft Factory F. E.2, the squadron disbanded on 31 December 1919. By January 1939 the squadron was equipped with Lysanders and moved to France on 2 October until late May 1940 when it withdrew to UK bases. XIII Squadron changed role and theatre, flying a variety of aircraft including the Bristol Blenheim. Peace heralded the return to duties, originally with Mosquito then Meteors and Canberras, operating from Egypt, Cyprus. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, the squadron flew reconnaissance flights over Syria from Cyprus, the squadron reformed at RAF Honington on 1 January 1990 equipped with reconnaissance Tornado GR. 1A aircraft. The complete system is carried and allows the Navigator to either view the imagery in real time or later in the mission, as a result, on 15/16 January 1991, immediately before hostilities commenced,6 aircraft were deployed to Saudi Arabia. During the first nights of the War, the Reconnaissance Wing successfully discovered several of the elusive Scud sites, the majority of sorties were however, tasked into Central and Eastern Iraq to identify the disposition of the various Iraqi ground forces in preparation for the ground offensive. By the end of the War, some 128 reconnaissance sorties had flown by the detachment. However, this was not XIII Sqns only contribution to the coalition victory, in December 1990, the GEC-Ferranti TIALD pod existed in prototype form when it was decided to accelerate the development for possible use in the Gulf. 4 XIII Sqn crews began the work-up from mid-January and, after encouraging results, by the end of the War,72 successful TIALD missions had been flown. On 1 February 1994, No XIII Sqn moved to RAF Marham, since that time, the Sqn has taken part in a number of successful exercises around the world from Yuma in America to Penang, Malaysia. XIII Sqn crews joined the Ali Al Salem Combat Air Wing in early 2003, the squadron also flew the last sortie by a Tornado in support of Operation Telic in 2009. A few weeks later, on 13 May 2011, the squadron was disbanded as part of the reductions announced in the Strategic Defence, XIII Squadron was reformed on 26 October 2012 at RAF Waddington. Subsequently, the Squadron flew the first remote operational mission from UK soil towards the end of April 2013, list of RAF squadrons Halley, J. J

34.
No. 14 Squadron RAF
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No.14 Squadron of the Royal Air Force currently operates the Beechcraft Shadow R1 in the Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance role from RAF Waddington. No.14 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed on 3 February 1915 at Shoreham with Maurice Farman S.11 and B. E.2 aircraft. After a few months of training it departed for the Middle East in November of that year for Army co-operation duties during the Sinai. In 1916 the squadrons B. E. 2s were supplemented with a number of D. H. 1A two seat fighters for escort duties, with the type remaining in use until March 1917. Other fighters operated by the fighter flight included the Bristol Scout and Vickers FB.19. The squadron flew in support of British forces in the Third Battle of Gaza in late 1917 and it was recalled to the UK in January 1919 and disbanded the following month. On 1 February 1920 the squadron was reformed in Ramleh by renumbering No.111 Squadron, the squadron operated Bristol Fighters and used them for various duties including photo surveying and air policing. The squadron patrolled Trans-Jordan and Palestine for the next 20 years, the squadron fully equipped with DH. 9As in January 1926. Fairey IIIFs replaced the squadrons DH. 9As in November 1929, the Fairey Gordon, a radial engined derivative of the IIIF re-equipped the squadron in September 1932, being used for operations against Arab rioters during the 1933 Palestine riots. In March 1938, the squadron replaced its Gordons with Vickers Wellesley monoplane bombers, when World War II broke out the squadron was transferred to Egypt but soon returned to Amman. It lost its first Wellesley to Italian defences on 14 June during a raid against Massawa. The Squadron started to receive twin-engined Bristol Blenheims in September that year, flying its first Blenheim mission on 20 September, in March 1941 it carried out bombing raids in support of the assault on Keren. In April 1941, following the liberation of Addis Ababa, the squadron was sent to Egypt for operations over the Western Desert, on 7 July 1941, the squadron withdrew from the Western Desert, being based in Palestine and Iraq until it returned to Egypt in November 1941. On 17 August 1942,14 Squadron was withdrawn from operations to convert to the Martin Marauder, the squadron flew its first operational mission with the Marauder, a maritime reconnaissance mission on 26 October 1942. The squadron used its Marauders for ling-range maritime reconnaissance missions, minelaying and anti-shipping attack with torpedoes, the squadrons Marauders sank a Tanker with torpedoes on 19 January 1943 and two more merchant ships on 21 February. In March 1943, it started performing anti-submarine missions out of Algeria, basing detachments in Italy and Sardinia, the Squadron flew its last Marauder mission on 21 September that year, leaving its equipment behind when it transferred back to the UK. On its return to the UK, the squadron was based at RAF Chivenor and carried out anti-submarine mission over the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay using Vickers Wellington Mk. XIVs. The squadron was disbanded on 1 June 1945 but was reborn the same day

35.
No. 16 Squadron RAF
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No.16 Squadron is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. It formed in 1915 at Saint-Omer to carry out a mixture of offensive patrolling, the squadron reformed on 1 April 1924 and again took on a reconnaissance role which it continued throughout the Second World War. Post-war, the squadron was disbanded and reformed several times and was converted to a bomber squadron, equipped with the Tornado GR.1 from 1984 the squadron took part in the Gulf War in 1990. It was again disbanded in September 1991, before reforming in November 1991 as the Operational Conversion Unit for the Jaguar, with the Jaguars imminent withdrawal from service, the squadron disbanded once more in 2005. 16 Squadron reformed again and took on its current role on 1 October 2008, based at RAF Wittering, it instructs pilots in elementary flying using the Tutor. The Squadron was formed at Saint-Omer, France on 10 February 1915 from elements of Nos.2,6 and 9 Squadrons and it immediately began fighting in the First World War under Hugh Dowding. In September 1915 the author Duncan Grinell-Milne joined the squadron as a junior pilot, in 1933 he published an account of his time in the squadron. His portrait of Dowding is by no means a flattering one, disbandment occurred on New Years Eve 1919 followed by reformation at Old Sarum on 1 April 1924. Initially the Bristol Fighter was operated in the reconnaissance role. In May 1938 the Lysander arrived and the Squadron continued in its role in wartime France from April 1940. In May 1940 it returned to England and conducted roving sea patrols searching for downed aircrew and enemy forces. The Spitfire Mk V took over this role from September 1943, in the build-up to D Day, No 16 supplied photographs instrumental to the planning of the Allied landings. Afterwards reconnaissance continued to be provided until the end of the war, as East-West relations cooled, the Squadron reformed at Laarbruch on 1 March 1958 and would remain there until 1991. 16 Squadron maintained a permanent readiness state, tasked with meeting the Soviet threat, in the conventional phase. The Canberra B.8 equipped with nuclear weapons was operated for 14 years. It was during these years, whilst on exercise in Oman that the Squadron was presented with their new mascot and he was affectionately named Jonesy, after one of the Flt Cdrs of the time. It was rather unfortunate when, in 1975 the Deputy OC ran Jonesy over, there have been many attempts to acquire a new Squadron mascot but none have succeeded. The Canberra gave way to the Buccaneer S. 2B on 16 October 1972, the squadrons twelve Buccaneers were equipped with a variety of conventional weapons and eighteen British WE.177 nuclear bombs

36.
No. 17 Squadron RAF
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No.17 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was reformed in April 2013 as the Operational Evaluation Unit for the F-35 Lightning II, the first No.17 Squadron was formed in the Royal Flying Corps in February 1915 at Gosport. It served in the Middle East and it claimed 26 aerial victories, and had two flying aces, future Air Marshal Sir Gerald Gibbs and Gilbert W. M. Green, within its ranks. After a period of training embarked for Egypt in November, on 24 December, it began to make reconnaissance flights over the Turkish lines in Sinai, also flying in support of troops engaged with Turkish army units in the Western Desert. At first it was the only RFC unit in Macedonia but was joined by others in April 1918. For the rest of the war, it was engaged in tactical reconnaissance, in December 1918 the squadron re-equipped with twelve DH9s and six Camels, sending A Flight to Batum to support the White Russian forces and B and C Flights to Constantinople in January 1919. On 14 November 1919, No 17 was disbanded, reforming at Hawkinge on 1 April 1924, with Snipes No 17 formed part of the fighter defence of the UK until the outbreak of World War Two. In June 1939 Hurricanes were received and flew defensive patrols until the German attack on France in May 1940, fighter sweeps were then flown over the Netherlands, Belgium and French airfields to cover the retreat of allied troops. In June the squadron moved to Brittany as the remnants of BEF and RAF units in France were evacuated, No 17 flew over southern England throughout the Battle of Britain, being moved to northern Scotland in April 1941. In November 1941, the sailed for the Far East where war broke out in December. Diverted to Burma, it arrived in January 1942, as Japanese troops neared Rangoon, defensive patrols were flown until the Rangoon airfields were overrun and No 17 moved north, eventually being cut off from India while operating from Lashio. The surviving aircraft were out and the ground personnel made their way across Burma to the Indian border. By the end of May, the squadron had re-assembled at Calcutta, ground attack missions began in February 1943 and continued until August, when the squadron moved to Ceylon. Spitfires began to arrive in March 1944 and were back to the Burma front in November to fly escort. In June 1945, it was withdrawn to prepare for the invasion of Malaya and was taken by carrier to the beaches near Penang in early September soon after the Japanese capitulation. In April 1946, it arrived in Japan to form part of the Commonwealth occupation force until disbanded on 23 February 1948, after the war No.691 Squadron RAF was renumbered as No.17 Squadron. In recent history the squadron has played a part in the RAF forces in Germany operating Canberras, Phantoms, Jaguars. Their role was in support of forces in a high-intensity European war using conventional weapons initially

37.
No. 18 Squadron RAF
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No.18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No.18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook, owing to its heritage as a bomber squadron, it is also known as No.18 Squadron. The squadron was formed on 11 May 1915 at Northolt as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It arrived in France on 19 November 1915, principally equipped with the Vickers FB5 Gunbus, supplemented by a few Airco DH. 2s and Bristol Scouts, by April 1916 the squadron had re-equipped with FE2bs. Victor Huston became a flying ace piloting one of these. E. 2bs became more vulnerable during daylight operations. The squadron re-equipped with Airco DH. 4s from June 1917,18 Squadron was among many units deployed to stop the German attacks, resorting to low level attacks as well as more conventional medium level operations. George Darvill became an ace on DH. 4s, scoring nine victories, in September 1918, the squadron began to re-equip with Airco DH. 9As, this process continuing until November that year. By the end of the war, the squadron had claimed 200 air-to-air victories, the squadron returned to Britain in September 1919 and disbanded at Weston-on-the-Green on 31 December 1919. The squadron reformed at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire on 20 October 1931, in January 1936, the squadron moved to RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk, with part of the squadron being detached to form No.49 Squadron on 10 February. In April 1936, the squadrons Harts were replaced by the improved Hawker Hind derivative, the squadron joined the newly established No.1 Group RAF in July 1936, and moved back to Upper Heyford in September 1936. 18 Squadron transferred to 2 Group on 1 January 1939, re-equipping with Bristol Blenheim I monoplane twin-engined bombers in May 1939. On the outbreak of the Second World War, No.18 Squadron along with 57 Squadron comprised No.70 Wing and was based at Upper Heyford. The wing was allocated for deployment to France as part of the BEF Air Component,18 Squadron reached France by the end of September 1939, commencing operations in October and re-equipping with Blenheim IVs in February 1940. When Germany invaded France and the Low Countries,18 Squadron took part in bombing missions against German troops as well as their envisioned reconnaissance missions. After the squadron was forced to change airfields three times in three days, it was ordered to back to England on 19 May, moving to RAF Watton in Norfolk. The Squadron was then assigned to anti-shipping duties, but during one raid over France in August 1941 and it was a spare for Wing Commander Douglas Bader. The Squadron then moved to North Africa with the Blenheim V, during an unescorted raid on Chouigui airfield in December 1942 led by Wing Commander Hugh Malcolm, his aircraft was shot down and he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. During 1943–45, No.18 Squadron supported the advance through Italy before moving to Greece in September 1945

38.
No. 24 Squadron RAF
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No.24 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the C-130J Hercules C.4 and C.5 from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The squadron was founded as No.24 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps on 1 September 1915 at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome and it arrived in France equipped with D. H.2 fighters in February 1916 – making it the worlds first single-seat fighter squadron. By early 1917 the DH.2 was outclassed and they were replaced by the Airco DH.5, the DH.5 did not prove suitable as a fighter but the squadron used it in a ground-attack role. One of the first actions was during the Battle of Messines, the DH.5 was phased out of operations and the squadron were given the SE. 5a in December 1917. After a few months in the role the squadron returned to air combat operations. By October 1918 the squadron had destroyed 200 enemy aircraft, with the armistice the squadron returned to England and was disbanded in February 1919. During the course of its existence, it had 33 flying aces among its ranks. It had to provide aircraft to transport VIPs and government officials, during the General Strike of 1926, because of the lack of a postal services, the squadron was used to deliver government dispatches around the country. It was soon in demand to provide air travel to royalty, during the 1920s the squadron used former wartime aircraft but it soon acquired more civil types better suited to the role. With the outbreak of the Second World War the squadron acquired more civil airliners which were impressed for wartime service and it provided a detachment in France to run a courier services, but with the withdrawal of British troops it was soon used to evacuate men back to England. Former British Airways and Imperial Airways aircraft were put to use on a network of communications flights including trips to Gibraltar, the squadron also performed ambulance flights when required. The squadron had grown into a large organisation not only with a network of routes around the United Kingdom and it also operated VIP transports including Sir Winston Churchills personal aircraft. It was decided to break the squadron up, the internal communication flight became 510 Squadron in October 1942, in June 1943 a second squadron, No. 512, equipped with Douglas Dakotas was split off from No 24 and this left 24 Sqn to concentrate on the long distance routes using the Avro York and C-47s. The long distance flights were taken over by squadrons and No.24 concentrated on short-range VIP duties using the Dakota. After many years the squadron had to leave RAF Hendon in February 1946 as the airfield was now to small to operate the larger Avro Yorks, the squadron was also designated a Commonwealth squadron with crews from various Commonwealth countries joining the squadron strength. Although it had a VIP role it still involved in the Berlin Airlift. When the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Hastings it soon lost the VIP business, in 1968 the squadron moved from RAF Colerne to RAF Lyneham and re-equipped with the Lockheed Hercules

39.
No. 25 Squadron RAF
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No.25 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Until April 2008 the squadron operated the Panavia Tornado F3, from RAF Leeming. No.25 Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Montrose on 25 September 1915 from No.6 Reserve Squadron, moving to France in February 1916, flying F. E. 2bs on fighter and they gave way to D. H.4 bombers in 1917. After the war the squadron acquired D. H. 9s, the unit was disbanded on 31 January 1920 at RAF Scopwick. The squadron reformed the day at RAF Hawkinge, flying Snipes. After returning to the UK the unit stayed for a number of years at Hawkinge. The Snipes gave way to Grebes and later Siskins, while in December 1936 the squadron became the first unit to receive the Hawker Fury Mk II, the Fury was replaced by the Hawker Demon when the squadron was given a night-fighter role. For night-flying training purposes the squadron also received Gloster Gladiators, No.25 Squadron moved to RAF Northolt on 12 September 1938. During World War II it flew Blenheims on night patrols, which were replaced by Beaufighters, by the closing stages of the war, the squadron was almost entirely committed to bomber escort missions. The squadron was particularly successful during Operation Steinbock from January to May 1944, the Vampires were then replaced by Gloster Meteor NF Mk.12 and 14s in March 1954. In 1957 the squadron moved from West Malling to RAF Tangmere, on 1 July 1958 No.153 Squadron RAF was renumbered No.25 Squadron and the squadron flew Meteors until their replacement in 1959 by the Gloster Javelin FAW Mk. 7s. No.25 Squadron disbanded again on 30 November 1962, reforming a year later as the RAFs first Bristol Bloodhound SAM unit, in this role the squadron moved to RAF Bruggen in 1970, with detachments also protecting RAF Laarbruch and RAF Wildenrath. In 1983 the squadron moved to RAF Wyton, similarly protecting RAF Barkston Heath, within the United Kingdom the Squadrons primary role, along with 11 Sqn prior to their disbandment, was QRA, Quick Reaction Alert, providing air defence for the Southern UK. Most publicly the Squadron intercepted eight Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers, the squadron disbanded on 4 April 2008, its Tornados relocating to RAF Leuchars to join the remaining active Tornado F3 squadrons stationed there. List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons Royal Air Force,25 Squadron XXV Squadron Association

40.
No. 27 Squadron RAF
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No.27 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC2 from RAF Odiham. 27 Squadron formed at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on 5 November 1915, soon being equipped with Martinsyde Elephant fighter aircraft, hence the use of an elephant for the squadron badge. It started to receive DH.9 bombers in July 1918, the squadron was disbanded on 22 January 1920. On 1 April 1920, No.27 was reformed by re-numbering No.99 Squadron RAF then in India and these aircraft were eventually replaced by Westland Wapitis in 1928, when the squadron moved to Kohat. It was based in Malaya when the Japanese invaded, using its Blenheims as long range fighters, a new No.27 Squadron was formed in India on 19 September 1942, receiving Bristol Beaufighters, using them for ground-attack missions over Burma and anti-shipping strikes. In April 1943, the received a number of de Havilland Mosquitoes for evaluation. The glue-and-plywood construction of the otherwise excellent Mosquito proved to be less optimal for tropical Burma. Following the Japanese surrender, it was deployed to Batavia during the Indonesian War of Independence, on 24 November 1947, the squadron reformed at RAF Oakington as a Transport unit equipped with Douglas Dakota transports. It flew both routine scheduled transport routes and trained in glider towing, and took part in the Berlin Airlift in 1948–49 and it was disbanded on 10 November 1950. On 15 June 1953, No.27 Squadron reformed at RAF Scampton as part of RAF Bomber Command and it took part in the Suez Crisis in 1956, and was disbanded at RAF Waddington on 31 December 1957. In April 1961, the squadron reformed at RAF Scampton as the first squadron to be equipped with the Avro Vulcan B2 V bomber and formed part of the UK nuclear deterrent strike force. The squadrons Vulcans were equipped with the Blue Steel one megaton stand-off bomb until 1969 when their eight aircraft were each re-equipped with a WE. 177B laydown bomb of 450 kt yield. The samples were collected by flying through the high altitude dust cloud of a ground based test or the contamination of the upper atmosphere after an air burst. The squadron disbanded again at Scampton in 1982, the squadron reformed again at RAF Marham in 1983 with twelve Tornado GR1 aircraft and eighteen WE. The squadrons allocation of eighteen WE.177 weapons was because of the carrying capacity of the Tornado. In 1993 the squadron disbanded and immediately reformed as No.12 Squadron RAF which had just disbanded at RAF Marham and it regained full squadron status in January 1998 equipped with Chinooks only. In 2002 the squadrons Chinooks saw service in Afghanistan as they transported Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade for Operation Jacana. They also served in a role during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was stationed at Basra as part of No.1310 Flight RAF

41.
No. 28 Squadron RAF
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No.28 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Puma and Chinook Helicopters from RAF Benson. No.28 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed on 7 November 1915 at RAF Gosport, initially a training squadron it became a fighter squadron equipped with the Sopwith Camel. After the end of the First World War it had claimed 136 victories and it numbered eleven flying aces among its ranks, including, future Air Vice-Marshal Clifford MacKay McEwen, William George Barker, Harold B. Hudson, James Hart Mitchell, Stanley Stanger, Arthur Cooper, Percy Wilson, Thomas Frederic Williams, the squadron was disbanded on 20 January 1920 at RAF Eastleigh however on 1 April 1920 it was reformed at RAF Ambala with the Bristol F2b Fighter. Remaining in Asia, during the Second World War it flew the Westland Lysander from September 1941, by 1943 the squadron was operating in Burma until July 1945 when it started to re-equip with the Supermarine Spitfire. After the Second World War the squadron operated as a unit as part of the Far East Air Force, moving to RAF Kai Tak. From then on the squadron was moved between Kai Tak and Sek Kong, and from January 1951 was re-equipped with the de Havilland Vampire. While at Kai Tak from May 1962 the squadron changed to flying Hawker Hunter FGA. 9s, the squadron was reformed on 1 March 1968 at Kai Tak from a detachment of No.103 Squadron RAF operating Westland Whirlwind HC 10s. The Westland Wessex HC.2 was introduced to the squadron from January 1972, on 17 May 1978 the squadron moved to RAF Sek Kong and stayed until 1996. The squadron returned to Kai Tak from then until the British withdrawal in June 1997 and was the last RAF squadron to leave the territory. The RAF ordered 22 Westland Merlin HC3 helicopters in March 1995, the squadron officially reformed on 17 July 2001 at RAF Benson, the first time in its recent history that the squadron had been stationed in the UK. The squadrons first operational role with the Merlin was in support of SFOR at Banja Luka, Bosnia, the aircraft and personnel deployed on 1 April 2003, the same day that an initial operational capability was declared for the Merlin. The detachment ceased on 31 March 2004 and the squadron began to prepare for operations in Iraq. The squadrons commitment to Operation TELIC began on 1 March 2005, in 2009 the squadron returned from Operation Telic and later on in the year deployed on Operation Herrick keeping the designation of 1419 Flight. The squadron returned during May 2013, on 3 December 2007 the squadron was broken up to form the RAF Merlin Force which comprises 28 Squadron, the newly reallocated 78 Squadron and the Merlin Force Engineering Squadron. This followed the purchase of six additional Merlin HC3As from Denmark via AgustaWestland. The commensurate increase in aircrew and engineering personnel would have made a single Merlin squadron too unwieldy, gilmour Wing Commander R. J. F. Smart AFC Squadron Leader M. I, hulyer MBIM Squadron Leader B. P. Simmonds BSc MInstP Squadron Leader G. R. Evans Squadron Leader S. D. Murkin Squadron Leader P. R

42.
No. 29 Squadron RAF
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No.29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, and is one of the worlds oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operational Conversion Unit for the Typhoon and this unit was first raised as a reserve squadron, initially equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory B. E. 2c, in November 1915. By late 1916 the DH.2 was outclassed by new German fighters, but No.29 kept its pushers until March 1917 and these were replaced with later Nieuport types, such as the Nieuport 24bis, as these became available. Due to a shortage of the Royal Aircraft Factory S. E. 5a the squadron retained its Nieuports until April 1918, at this time the squadron finally received the S. E. 5a, which it retained for the rest of the war. By the time of his death a few later, McCudden had 57 official victories in air combat. October 1918 was a month for the squadron, four of its more notable members died within a fortnight. Claude Melnot Wilson was the first to fall, on 14 October, roderic MacLean collided with Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath on the 26th, with MacLean dying that day and Rath lingering until the next. Even as Rath was succumbing to his injuries, Guy Wareing was shot down on the 27th, after a short period with the army of occupation in Germany, the Squadron returned to the UK in August 1919 and was disbanded on 31 December 1919. The squadron ended the war having claimed 385 victories and these were replaced by Gloster Grebes in January 1925, In turn, these were replaced by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA in March 1928 and Bristol Bulldogs in June 1932. In March 1935, nearly twenty years after it was first raised as a fighter squadron, the squadron received two-seater Hawker Demons. This included service in Egypt from October 1935 to 1936, during the Abyssinian crisis, the squadron also operated a few old Fairey Gordons for night patrols in Egypt. As part of the Royal Air Force’s modernisation and expansion in the late 1930s, No 29 began the Second World War with its Blenheims, which at the period operated as day fighters – especially on convoy protection patrols. From June 1940 it became a fighter squadron, receiving some of the first Beaufighters in November. Various marks of the de Havilland Mosquito were flown by the squadron from May 1943 culminating in the Mosquito NF30, from the middle of 1944 most of the squadron’s missions took it over the continent. During the immediate post-war years the squadron remained a night/all weather fighter unit, the Mosquitoes continued to serve until replaced by Gloster Meteor NF11s in August 1951. In November 1957 these were superseded by Gloster Javelins, in January 1957 the squadron moved north, first to Northumberland and then in July 1958 to Scotland, conversion to Javelins taking having taken place in November 1957. In February 1963 No 29 moved to Cyprus and in December 1965 went to Zambia for nine months on detachment during the Rhodesian crisis. In 1987,29 Squadron was one of the first RAF units to receive the Tornado F3, deploying to Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, No.29 flew the Tornado until disbanding in 1998, as part of the Strategic Defence Review

43.
No. 30 Squadron RAF
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No.30 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the second generation C-130J Hercules from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. The squadron operates alongside No.24 Squadron and No.47 Squadron all flying the Hercules, No.30 Squadron was formed for service in Egypt in October 1914 at Farnborough, but was not allocated the squadron number 30 until 24 March 1915. Initially a single flight of BE2s at Ismailia Airfield, on 24 August 1915, the Mesopotamian Half Flight, a unit of the Australian Flying Corps stationed in Mesopotamia was formally attached to 30 Sqn. For several months the Half-Flight, under Captain Henry Petre, had been flying operations in support of the Indian Army, against Turkish ground forces, in early 1915, the Australian Government received a request for assistance for air support from the British Government of India. The AFC was still in its infancy and could provide enough aircrews. All aircraft were to be provided by the Indian Government, Captain Henry Petre was appointed commander, before the half-flight sailed for Bombay. The Australians were augmented by personnel from the Indian Army and New Zealand, on 20 April, the half-flight left India for Mesopotamia to provide air support to Indian and British troops against the Ottoman Empire. The unit was known as the Upon its arrival in Basra on 26 May. These three biplanes were of a design, so-called because the propeller faced backwards, behind the cockpit and were already obsolete. In particular, they were not suitable for conditions, their top speed was only 50 mph. Secondly, the warmer air reduced aerodynamic lift, rendering the Farmans unable to take off on some occasions, in addition, the Longhorn was a second-hand aircraft with persistent mechanical problems, meaning that it spent many hours undergoing maintenance. Nevertheless, the half-flight was immediately put to use on reconnaissance missions, shortly afterwards, the Indian Army captured the town of Amarah, and the half-flight moved there on 9 June. On 4 July, the equipment was augmented with two Caudron G.3 aircraft, which were still not up-to-date, but generally preferred to the Farmans. On 30 July, one of the Caudrons was forced to land in enemy territory due to mechanical problems and it was later reported that the crew — Lieutenants George Pinnock Merz and W. W. A. Burn — were killed by armed civilians in a gun battle. They were Australias first military aviation casualties, the main body of 30 Sqn remained in Egypt for several weeks. Because the Tigris river was too shallow for the seaplanes to use at time of year. On 27 September, Kut was captured and the Half-Flight moved there, in October, four BE2c and their RFC crews arrived in Mesopotamia

44.
No. 31 Squadron RAF
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No.31 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force, known as the Goldstars, currently operates the Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham, Norfolk. The squadron was formed at Farnborough on 11 October 1915, in September 1919 BE2s were replaced by Bristol Fighters. In April 1939 the Squadron changed to the transport role. During 1941, the Squadron began to concentrate on transport duties with seconded DC-2s, returning to India the squadron re-equipped with the Dakota. After the Japanese invasion of Burma, it flew missions between Calcutta and Rangoon dropping supplies for the XIVth Army, after World War II the squadron moved to Java. In 1946 the Squadron was disbanded in Java and reformed at PAF Base Masroor, Mauripur Karachi, at the end of 1947 it was again disbanded, but reformed in July 1948. In 1955, the unit reverted to its previous identity, the squadron flew Canberras until 1971 when they were replaced by Phantoms.177 nuclear bombs from 1977 to 1984. Where their role was in support of forces in a high-intensity European war using conventional weapons initially. The squadron took delivery of Tornado GR1s in 1984, the apparent mismatch between aircraft numbers and WE. The squadrons nuclear strike role continued at RAF Bruggen until 1994. in 1991, No 31 Sqn was the lead Squadron of the Dhahran Tornado GR1/GR1A detachment during Op Granby. Wg Cdr Witts was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions,31 Sqn was the last RAF Squadron to be based at RAF Bruggen in Germany, before returning to the UK to be based at RAF Marham in August 2001. In 2003, within Operation Telic, during the Iraq War and his actions in command of the Squadron earned him the DSO. Now part of the Marham Wing,31 Squadrons aircraft and crews were part of the RAF Tornado force in the 1991 Gulf War and the Squadron has continued to fly on regular operations over Iraq. On 1 January 1995 the Squadron was declared operational in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences role equipped with the Air Launched Anti Radiation Missile ALARM Anti Radiation Missile. While all Tornado GR. 4s are capable of carrying the ALARM Anti Radiation Missile, only 31, in this role they are known as Pathfinder squadrons. During 1999 the Squadron re-equipped with the Tornado GR4, in 199931 Sqn participated in Operation Engadine, NATO operations over the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For the latter part of operation the Squadron was temporarily based in Corsica. In 2001 No 31 Squadron moved to RAF Marham, and in 2003 formed the core of the Ali Al Salem Air Combat Wing, operating over Iraq during Operation Resinate South and Operation Telic

45.
No. 32 Squadron RAF
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No.32 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates in the VIP and general air transport roles from RAF Northolt in Greater London. Originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps, the squadron saw action during the First and Second World Wars with fighter aircraft, the Metropolitan Communications Squadron, involved in the VIP transport role, was renamed as No.32 Squadron at that time. In 1995, the squadron was merged with the Queens Flight, at this time the squadron moved from RAF Benson to RAF Northolt, where it remains. The merger ended the RAFs provision of dedicated VIP transport aircraft, two flights within the squadron operate the British Aerospace 146 and AgustaWestland AW109. No.32 Squadron was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps on 12 January 1916 at Netheravon and moved to France as a fighter squadron equipped with Airco DH. 2s in May. These in turn began to be replaced by the S. E. 5a in December 1917 which were flown for the rest of the war on fighter, on 1 April 1918 No.32 became part of the new Royal Air Force. In March 1919, the returned to the UK as a cadre. During the war just ended, sixteen aces had served in its ranks, the squadron reformed on 1 April 1923 at Kenley as a single flight of Sopwith Snipe fighters. A second flight was formed on 10 December 1923 and a third brought the squadron up to strength on 1 June 1924, Gloster Grebes were received at the end of 1924 and were replaced by Gloster Gamecocks two years later. Equipped in succession with Armstrong Whitworth Siskins, Bristol Bulldogs and Gloster Gauntlets, following Operation Torch, the Anglo American invasion of North Africa, in December 1942,32 Squadron deployed with its Hurricanes to Algeria, converting to the Supermarine Spitfire by July 1943. Operations included a deployment to Greece, where the took part in the Greek Civil War from September 1944 to February 1945. After the end of the Second World War, the squadron continued as a squadron, flying Spitfires, Vampires and Venoms from bases in Palestine, Cyprus, Egypt, Persian Gulf, Malta. In January 1957, the converted to Canberra bombers at RAF Weston Zoyland, flying these from Cyprus. The Metropolitan Communications Squadron was formed on 8 April 1944 by the renaming of No.510 Squadron for VIP air transport, simultaneous with No.32 Squadron being disbanded in Cyprus in February 1969, the Metropolitan Communications Squadron was renamed No.32 Squadron. It operated a variety of aircraft, including Hawker Siddeley Andovers, the squadron acquired four HS.125 CC. 1s business jets in 1971. These would be supplemented and then replaced by two HS.125 CC. 2s delivered in 1973 and six BAe 125 CC. 3s delivered in 1982 and 1983, aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters served with the squadron from 1976 onwards. These were replaced by initially two Twin Squirrels in 1996, the RAF leased two BAe 146s in 1983 as a test of their suitability to replace the Andover, which were operated by 241 Operational Conversion Unit. Two BAe 146-100s were purchased in 1984 for the Queens Flight as a result, a third BAe 146 CC.2 was purchased in 1989 and delivered in 1990, although it was subsequently sold in 2002

46.
No. 33 Squadron RAF
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No.33 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Puma HC.2 from RAF Benson, Oxfordshire. No.33 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed part of 12 Sqn at Filton on 12 January 1916. 2s. Its headquarters were at Gainsborough, with its flights based on three stations, RAF Scampton, RAF Kirton in Lindsey and RAF Elsham Wolds, the FE. 2s were replaced by Bristol Fighters in June 1918, which were in turn replaced by night fighter Avro 504s in August. The squadron did not destroy any enemy airships, despite a number of interceptions and was disbanded in June 1919, in 1935, as part of Britains response to the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, the unit moved to Egypt, taking part in air policing in Palestine. In February 1938, the squadron re-equipped with Gloster Gladiators, changing role to a fighter squadron, with the exception of a time in Greece and Crete in 1941,33 Sqn remained in the Middle East for most of World War II.32. It suffered its first losses of the war five days later in a combat with Fiat CR. 42s, the squadron re-equipped with Hurricanes in October 1940, allowing it to intercept the Italian SM.79 bombers, which were faster than the Gladiator. It was withdrawn from the fighting in January 1941, in order to help resist the Italian invasion of Greece. The Squadron returned to support the Army in the Western Desert, including at the Battle of El Alamein, returning to the UK in 1944 the squadron flew the Spitfire IX as part of 2 TAF, carrying out a mix of escort and fighter-bombing missions. It flew fighter support for the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944, moving to France in October 1944 and it re-equipped with the Hawker Tempest in December, returning to action from Gilze-Rijen in February 1945, flying fighter sweeps in North West Europe. The squadron remained in Germany until 1949, over 200 air kills were claimed 1940–45. It re-equipped with twin-engined de Havilland Hornets in 1951, disbanding in March 1955 and it re-equipped with Gloster Javelins in April 1958, at RAF Middleton St George, being disbanded again on 18 November 1962. A number of types were operated during several disbandments and reformations throughout the late 1950s, in April 1965,33 Squadron became a Bloodhound surface-to-air missile unit based at Butterworth in Malaya, being disbanded in February 1969. Formed in 1971 at RAF Odiham as the RAFs first Puma squadron and these include the Gulf War of 1991 and Operation Agricola, the NATO Kosovo Force, Operation Barwood in Mozambique, NATO operations in Bosnia and in Iraq during Operation Telic. The squadron is part of the RAF Support Helicopter force, which reports into the Joint Helicopter Command, in August,2007, a crash of a 33 Squadron Puma left three personnel dead out of twelve on board in Catterick Garrison. The inquest coroner called 33 Squadron a sloppy outfit, that allowed a crew to operate the helicopter. A court-martial of the stated that the officers on this board are shocked at the lack of professional standards displayed by those responsible for the aircraft. The Puma HC1 was withdrawn from service in December 2012 and is being replaced with the HC2 under a Life Extension Programme, the first Puma HC. 2s have been delivered to the Puma Force and operational flying has begun by 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron. On 11 October 2015, one member of the squadron was killed in an accident in Kabul, Afghanistan, whilst landing at the NATO Training

47.
No. 39 Squadron RAF
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No.39 Squadron of the Royal Air Force has operated the MQ-9 Reaper since 2007. It currently operating from RAF Waddington,39 Squadron was founded at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome in April 1916 with B. E. 2s and Royal Aircraft Factory B. E. 12s in an attempt to defend against German Zeppelin raids on London. On 23 September 1916, the German Navy launched another Zeppelin raid against London, in October 1918 it was re-equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory F. E. 2b aircraft and sent to France for night bombing, but was disbanded five days after the Armistice. It was reformed on 1 July 1919, when 37 Squadron based at Biggin Hill was renumbered, the squadron was reduced to a cadre in December 1919, but did not disband, and in April 1921 it was decided to return the Squadron to operations. By May that year, the squadron was manned and received a number of Avro 504 to train aircrew in preparation for operating more warlike aircraft. These arrived in February 1923 when the Squadron, now based at RAF Spitalgate in Lincolnshire received 18 Airco DH. 9As, in January 1928, the squadron moved from Spitalgate to RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk, where it began to prepare to a prospective move to British India. In December 1929 it left the United Kingdom, leaving behind its DH. 9As to equip 101 Squadron and it arrived at Risalpur, North-West Frontier Province India at the end of January 1929, receiving its complement of twelve Westland Wapitis in March that year. It was used for Air Policing in the North West Frontier, carrying out bombing missions against rebelling tribemen and their villages, and support for the army. Major military operations included support of the Second Mohmand Campaign of 1935 against hostile tribemen in Mohmand Territory, in 1939 the squadron re-equipped with more modern Bristol Blenheim I twin-engined monoplane bombers. As the threat of war increased, it was decided to strengthen British defences in the Far East by moving 39 Squadron to Singapore, on that day, Italy declared war on Great Britain and France, and No. In January, however, the squadron was ordered to recall the three aircraft detachment and hand over the squadrons Blenheims to 11 Squadron, which was to deploy to Greece. To replace its Blenheim IVs,39 Squadron received Martin Maryland bombers, originally built for the French Air Force, owing to the long range of the Maryland,39 Squadron used it mainly for reconnaissance. The squadron was deployed during the Battle of Crete, claiming at least two Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft shot down in the course of its operations during the battle. In August–September 1941, the squadron converted to the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber for anti-shipping operations. At first the Squadrons Beauforts were armed with bombs but from January 1942 it added torpedo attack to its roles, in late 1941 the unit was split up. One flight moved to Luqa, Malta in December 1941, six months later this flight was combined with others from 86 and 217 Squadrons to eventually form a new 39 Squadron. In 1943 the unit re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighter aircraft in the attack role. During the Greek Civil War, it sent rocket-armed aircraft to participate in RAF operations, in December 1944, it re-equipped with Martin Marauders, flying medium bombing missions in support of Titos Partisans

48.
No. 41 Squadron RAF
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No.41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently the RAFs Test and Evaluation Squadron, based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is 41 TES, the squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal Flying Corps and served on the Western Front as a ground attack and fighter squadron. During the Second World War, the squadron flew Supermarine Spitfire fighters and saw action over Dunkirk, Combat operations were flown from Britain over German-occupied Europe during 1941–44, before the squadron moved to the continent after the Normandy landings. During 1944–45, the supported the Allied advance into Germany. In the post war years, the squadron was disbanded and re-formed several times, operating a variety of jet aircraft in the fighter, reconnaissance, in 2006, the squadron was re-roled as the Fast Jet & Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit. It remained in this role until 2010 when it became the RAFs Test, No.41 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was originally formed at Fort Rowner, RAF Gosport, in mid April 1916 with a nucleus of men from 28 Squadron RFC. These were replaced in early September 1916 with the Royal Aircraft Factory F. E.8, eighteen aircraft departed Gosport for the 225-mile flight to St. Omer, but only 12 actually made it, the others landing elsewhere with technical problems. The 12 pilots spent a week at St. Omer before moving to Abeele, where the crews reached them by road. The F. E.8 was already obsolete as a pure fighter, on 24 January 1917, the Squadron claimed its first victories. These fell to Sgt Plt Cecil Tooms, who himself was killed in action only four hours later, while equipped with F. E. 8s, the Squadron participated in the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Messines. By this time the unit had become the last pusher fighter squadron in the RFC, the Squadron provided distinguished service in the Battle of Cambrai, and subsequently in the German Spring Offensive, and the Battle of Amiens. 41 Squadron claimed its final victory of the war two days prior to the cessation of hostilities, in the aftermath, the unit was reduced to a cadre of just 16 men on 7 February 1919 and returned to the United Kingdom. Their new base was Tangmere, but they were moved to Croydon, Surrey, in early October, the unit had a remarkable number of Canadian aces in it—ten out of the seventeen. The Squadrons pilots and ground crews were awarded four DSOs, six MCs, nine DFCs, the pilots were credited with destroying 111 aircraft and 14 balloons, sending down 112 aircraft out of control, and driving down 25 aircraft and five balloons. Thirty-nine men were killed or died on service,48 were wounded or injured. The squadron reformed at RAF Northolt on 1 April 1923, equipped with the Sopwith Snipe, in 1924, it began receiving the first Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III biplanes. Amongst the dead were the Secretary of State for Air, Brig. Gen. Lord Christopher Thomson PC CBE DSO, thousands filed past to pay their last respects. During the 1930s, displays, sports, competitions, tactical exercises, in the summer of 1934,41 Squadron even performed a flying display for South Bucks Mothers Union

Wales ((listen); Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəmri] (listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of …

Britain in AD 500: The areas shaded pink on the map were inhabited by the CelticBritons, here labelled Welsh. The pale blue areas in the east were controlled by Germanic tribes, whilst the pale green areas to the north were inhabited by the Gaels and Picts.

Royal Air Force Atcham or more simply RAF Atcham is a former Royal Air Force station located 5.0 miles (8.0 km) east of …

Spitfire V of the 309th Fighter Squadron

An RAF airman talks to a pilot of the 14th Fighter Group on the wing of his P-38 Lightning at Atcham, England.

Republic P-47C-5-RE Thunderbolt Serial 41-6530 of the 551st Fighter Training Squadron. This aircraft was formerly assigned to the 56th Fighter Group at RAF Kings Cliffe. This aircraft was condemned due to enemy action 16 April 1946